The members of the Franciscan Network for Migrants gathered to celebrate together the World Day called by Pope Francis on the occasion of the liturgical memory of Saint Josephine Bakhita.
On February 8, we celebrate the feast of Saint Josephina Bakhita, a Sudanese nun who suffered the dramatic experience of trafficking. Since 2015, at the initiative of Pope Francis, the Church has held a special day of prayer and reflection on this scourge that currently affects thousands of people around the world. Talitha Kum, the worldwide network of consecrated life committed against human trafficking, provides a prayer every year so that many people can come together and celebrate this day.
At 9.00AM (Mexico / Central America) about 50 of us met through zoom. We stopped the daily rhythm of our workday to pray and reflect together for an “economy without human trafficking.” An intimate and communal experience was lived by several lay persons and religious who are linked to the work of the Franciscan Network on Migration through shelters, soup kitchens, and working groups on migration.
It has been a significant moment for our lives and for the work that each one of us has developed in favor of migrants who on many occasions are also victims of trafficking. Participation included RFM groups working in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. We closed the session with the hope and conviction to commit ourselves to help “proclaim the liberation of the captives” (Lk. 4:18).
